Today YouTube is a household name. There is a daily influx
of new videos to discover that cover a range of genres; from political recaps,
to informative videos, to plain hilarity. Most recently, however, I came across
a video called “Boys Will Be Girls: Night Out.” In accordance with what I
usually watch on the site, it was meant to be a comedic video. But, what made
it so funny was it’s obvious commentary on human interaction.
The video,
in its entirety, touches upon the stereotypes of men and women in terms of
relationships, friendships, and electronic communication (namely texting). The
draw of this for viewers, of course, is that these types of conversations
really do happen everyday, but they don’t seem nearly as ridiculous when you’re
involved in them. Take, for example, when one of the characters dramatically
states that his girlfriend hasn’t texted back “for five minutes.” To which his
friend responds, “What is she dead?”
The humor derives from the fact that these situations really occur. In a world
where everything is based on constant gratification, five minutes takes on the
guise of an eternity.
This video
most blatantly takes a humorous stab at gender stereotypes. Beyond that,
however, it takes a jab at the communicative breakdown caused by the lack of emotion
in text-based conversations, as well as the way “abbrevs” have snuck their way
into our daily lives. To be honest, this video “T.T.T.W.O.M.S.” (“totes took
the wind out of my sails”) when I realized that I, too, partake in the unreasonable
over analysis of the undertone of a text message. For example, the “huge
difference between ‘yea’ and ‘yes,’” and the hurt felt by “hate words” such as
‘go.’
The appeal
of this particular video lies in the viewers’ ability to relate, whether
they’re willing to admit it or not. With its 1.2 million views and almost 4,000
“likes,” it’s certainly striking accord with the YouTube community. While this
video definitely draws a laugh – or fit of hysterics – the creators were
certainly strategic in making a statement about the role of text and electronic
conversations in the breakdown of effective human communication.
I didn't even have to watch the video, I've seen it like, 4 or 5 times. The first time I watched it I was literally crying with laughter. I think that for me the funniest part was something you briefly touched on, the gender stereotyping. I have to say that most of this type of communication occurs between girls rather than guys, so the fact that guys were acting this out made it even funnier. But I definitely agree that the draw of the video is relatablitiy, I must admit to some overanalysis as well.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jeremy in that we all can relate to the gender stereotyping. Many of us, myself included, often read into text messages too much and misinterpret the meaning behind a word as simple as "yea".
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